Prop 8 Trial: The Reenactment

The Supreme Court has stopped a San Francisco federal court from broadcasting the Proposition 8 trial on YouTube, so two California men are re-enacting it (via Mediaite). Co-counsels David Boies and Ted Olson, unlikely political bedfellows, seek to overturn the referendum that prohibits same-sex marriage, claiming that the Bill of Rights guarantees equality regardless of what a referendum might say.

Knowing people were clamoring to see expert testimony by economic experts and anti-gay ministers, John Ireland and John Ainsworth are giving the trial the “let’s put on a show” treatment and reenacting the trial in a University of Southern California law school courtroom with actors filling in for the judge, lawyers, and witnesses.

“There is a huge buzz on the web about this trial,” USC law professor and video consultant David B. Cruz said in a statement announcing the project. “I think a lot of people across our country were poised to watch the opening statements on the first day. When access was blocked, the thirst for information just grew exponentially.”

Things in the trial got interesting last week.

…there was finally a heated dispute over admitting evidence of religious groups’ involvement in pushing Prop 8 and some fascinating testimony by a defendant who wanted to be dropped from the case because he feared attacks from Prop 8 opponents and said he relied on the Internet for evidence that homosexuality was bad for marriage.